Category Archives: Watadd

This recording by Ammar Haj Ahmad (a poet and actor from Syria) is part of a collaborative poem and workshop called ‘The Door’, a project by watadd.com. Photograph by Abdullah Sirhan.

English Translation: The door. What is a door? Is the door a poem? Yes, the door is a poem? Do you want to open it? Or should it remain closed? No, the door is already open? No, the door is. With great effort they turned the key in the lock with their mouths… What is a door? Does it open out onto a dream or close onto a cell? What does it wait for? Does it wait for you? Who knocks on its seam? What stories are locked inside its wood? The door, just a door. But what if the door was a poem? Yes, let’s say the door is a poem. Do you open it or do you leave?

This recording by Ammar Haj Ahmad (a poet and actor from Syria) is part of a collaborative poem and workshop called ‘The Door’, a project by www.watadd.com. Photograph by Abdullah Sirhan.

English Translation: Some doors are large, some are small. Some have powerful people waiting behind them, and some open out onto empty rooms. For this first exercise we want you to think of a door. This could be a door you’ve seen, or it could be one that exists only in your mind. You can close your eyes if it helps you. If you’re stuck, think about who or what is behind the door. Think about whether you are on the inside or the outside. Think about what colour the door is, and what it is made of, or what building it is part of. Now, when you’re ready, describe the door that you see.